Geoffroy St Hilaire

Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Etienne, was born at Etampes in 1772, being the son of a not over-prosperous lawyer, who intended him for the priesthood. However, in Paris he became associated with Brisson and Hauy, the naturalists, and the outbreak of the Revolution further induced him to change his destination. Ultimately he entered the Museum of Natural History, where he allied himself with Cuvier, and both together helped to build up that famous zoological collection and to plan the Jardin des Plantes. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt in 1798, and Junot to Portugal in 1808. In 1818 appeared the first part of his Philosophie Anatomique, in which he set forth his long-cherished views as to the unity of organic structure. When he went on to extend his theory to the invertebrate animals, Cuvier rose in arms, and a long warfare ensued, ending, however, in peace and renewed friendship. Losing his sight in 1840, Geoffroy St. Hilaire died in 1844.